The discussion below is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
Common tests performed on polymer and metallic materials involve a cyclic or monotonic applied stress. These tests often apply tensile forces and/or compressive forces to a specimen. Specimens may include, by way of example only and not by way of limitation, tensile and compressive specimens in dog bone and cylindrical shapes, etc. Gripping mechanisms for holding specimens may include, by way of example only and not by way of limitation, tensile grips, compression platens, wedge action grips, shear grips such as double lap shear grips, tearing energy grips, bend fixtures, etc. Tests are often performed in a load frame with an environmental chamber used to expose the specimen under test to a particular thermal environment. The temperature is often controlled and usually varied throughout the test. The mechanical properties of the material are evaluated by imposing an excitation motion (or force) on the specimen and measuring the resultant force (or motion) response of the specimen.
From the relationship of the response output to the excitation input, characteristics of the specimen material can be deduced. Most theoretical models for the polymers predict a response which is dependent on frequency, temperature, and amplitude. Most empirical testing maps the response as a function of varied frequency, temperature, and amplitude. One such example is the measure of the dynamic moduli of polymer materials, for instance, the storage modulus and loss modulus for dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). In the particular case of polymer testing, since the mechanical properties (dynamic moduli) are very temperature dependent, it is important that the specimen under test be of a homogenous and stable temperature during the mechanical measurement. This thermal environment is key in obtaining repeatable and consistent empirical data.